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The Africa Centre for Energy Policy- ACEP has kicked against calls for the Public Interest and Accountability Committee to be given powers to prosecute perpetrators of financial malfeasance in relation to oil revenues.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee is a body setup by law to be custodians of Ghana’s oil revenues. They however do not have powers to prosecute perpetrators. They can only highlight discrepancies for onward prosecution by the Attorney General’s department.
Responding to the call however, Deputy Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ben Boakye believes that giving PIAC prosecutorial powers will render the committee inefficient.
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“ There is no need for the powers of PIAC to be extended. They only need to be strengthened to be more efficient in what they have been mandated to do.”
He added that an extension of PIAC’s powers to prosecute perpetrators will conflict with the powers of parliament’s Public Accountability Committee.
“ Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has the power to sanction perpetrators when it comes to financial malfeasance involving public revenue, so granting those same powers to PIAC will amount to a conflict of powers”, Ben Boakye told CITI Fm.